Letters

I enjoyed both Renato Carrara's letter in the December 2002
Linux Journal, and Gary Nickerson's reply in
the January 2003 issue. I don't think that it's necessarily
dangerous for a (relatively) small-circulation publication like
Linux Journal to sell advertising to
Microsoft; Bill's money is just as green as anyone else's. However,
as a publication grows, it needs to beware of developing a
dependency on large, powerful advertisers such as Microsoft. High
overhead can make them susceptible to the threat (explicit or
unstated) of one or more large advertisers pulling their ads. I
hope that LJ can grow at a measured pace and
thus maintain its independent spirit and its outstanding content.
In the meantime, I appreciate your great work in building a very
useful and readable publication. Please keep it up. And, hey, if
you're able to siphon off a few bucks from The Beast along the way,
more power to ya.

—Ken

Thanks for Not Taking the Microsoft Ad

Regarding the letter “An Ad Is an Ad” in the January 2003
issue, I think the decision not to run ads from Microsoft is a
great one. If I need information from them I know exactly where to
find it. The ads in Linux Journal nowadays are
really a welcomed break from other “infested” publications. I
think it's really important that you guys keep your focus on the
values of where you came from, since it really makes a big
difference for us readers. Truly, it's a joy to read your magazine,
all the fresh people and talk and the lack of all the corporate
bull.